Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 11:47:02 -0400
[ Send all responses to James.Butler@educ.utas.edu.au only. All responses
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On Monday 22 August 1994, Australia's federal government should meet to
take steps for overturning Tasmania's notorious anti-gay laws. Attorney
General Michael Lavarch is supposed to support a bill securing adult LGBTs
the right to consenting sex in private, thus superseding the Tasmanian
regulations.
This possible overturning of Tasmania's sodomy code will uphold
Australia's obligations under the U.N.'s International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights. It will not, however, clear up any discrimination
problems around age of consent issues, however, as the careful reader of
the paragraph above may have noticed. Even more progressive New South
Wales, for example, has a het. age of consent of 16 and one of 18 for
lesbigays. One can only wonder what age of consent Tasmania's state
government may set if the over-ride proceeds on course: "Will you still
need me when I'm 64?"